By Ezra
I was struck by this on Mike Huckabee's attitudes towards crime and punishment:
[Huckabee] has refused to take the predictable path by talking tough on crime to deflect the DuMond criticism. Instead, he campaigns on a compassionate approach to wrongdoers, especially those whose crimes are the result of drug or alcohol addiction. At Philly's Finest, he condemned the "revenge-based corrections system," sounding every bit the sort of squishy liberal that the Bill O'Reillys of the world long ago scared into the shadows. "We lock up a lot of people we are mad at rather than the ones we are really afraid of," he said. "We incarcerate more people than anybody on earth." As governor, Huckabee pushed for drug treatment instead of incarceration for non-violent offenders. He pushed for faith-based prison programs, and was critical of governors who "gladly pull the switch" on death penalty cases, an apparent knock on President Bush, who was criticized as governor of Texas for being cavalier about capital punishment.
It's been a long time since a national politician has spoken sense on the criminal justice system. Huckabee's formulation that we lock up folks we're mad at rather than afraid of is a brilliantly clear explanation of the inanities of our prison-industrial complex, and his invocation of the Christian swear word "revenge" has power too. Whether Huckabee has a shot, and whether the pressures of the campaign will force him into a more traditional law-and-order stance remain to be seen, but both bear watching.
Also: I've got a cray day today, and tomorrow -- root canal -- as well, so I've asked the Weekenders to pitch in if they're so inclined.
